1. Area of the Art
The present invention is in the area of simplified cooking of fresh produce and is more specifically involved with a device and method to facilitate the microwave cooking of fresh vegetables such as potatoes and sweet corn.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to wrap a vegetable in plastic film and then cook it in a typical microwave oven. In fact, many brands of “plastic wrap” specifically advertise that they are “microwavable.” This method for cooking fresh vegetables is applicable to a wide variety of vegetables but is especially suitable for firm vegetable that require a reasonable amount of cooking to make them palatable; such suitable vegetables include potatoes, both regular and sweet, corn, hard or autumn squash, artichokes, brussel sprouts, asparagus and onions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,665,411 to Bassetti discloses shipping sweet potatoes in a special heat shrunk film that preserves the sweet potatoes and is suitable for microwave cooking.
A major drawback to this method of cooking vegetable is that the plastic film becomes somewhat softened at cooking temperatures so that removal of the film at the end of the cooking process is difficult without receiving a burn from trying to hold the cooked vegetable or from the steam released when the plastic veil is pierced. It is extremely difficult safely to grasp the vegetable (think “hot potato”) and remove the plastic since protective gloves render removal of the plastic virtually impossible. Attempts to safely detach the plastic may result in hot vegetable on the floor or in the lap. Bassetti specifically recommends allowing the potato to cool before removing the plastic film. However, most consumers prefer hot vegetables and it seems counterproductive to have to cool the vegetable to remove the plastic and then reheat the vegetable for serving.
Therefore, there is a considerable need for a system to enable microwave cooking of vegetables where the enveloping plastic film can be easily removed without risking burns or dropped steaming produce.